Personal computers ("PCs") commonly comprise a sheet metal case containing a motherboard, one or more drive housings holding various drives, a backplane to which a motherboard and its add-on cards are attached, a power supply and various other components. To assemble a PC, the manufacturer determines which motherboard, add-on cards, drives, power supply, etc. are required. Those components are then fastened within the case, typically with screws.
During the PC manufacturing or servicing process it is necessary to test components and sub-assemblies at various stages. This is sometimes difficult, given the constraints imposed by prior art PC case designs. For example, the motherboard is typically screw-fastened to a base plate which is in turn fastened to the case. Add-on cards are plugged into edge connectors provided on the motherboard. The cards'external input-output connectors are aligned with and fastened adjacent apertures provided in a backplane structure in the rear wall of the case. Testing procedures sometimes require electrical probe or other access to specific points on the motherboard. However, access to such points can be obstructed by over-hanging portions of the power supply, drive housings, etc. This may necessitate laborious removal of add-on cards, disk drive and other peripheral connectors from the motherboard and/or removal of the motherboard itself. The removed components must then undergo complex reconfiguration and separate testing outside the case. Such testing is less desirable in comparison to testing conducted while the components remain in situ within the case and connected in the manner in which the PC is to be shipped to and used by the end user.
The present invention provides a computer case having an integrated motherboard-backplane support structure which can easily be swung between positions inside and outside the case without the need for removing add-on cards. The motherboard and all add-on cards can be left intact while the support structure is positioned outside the case. Further, most if not all of the cables connected between the motherboard and the add-on cards can be left intact. In most cases, only power supply or peripheral connector cables need to be disconnected to allow the motherboard-backplane support structure to swing outside the case. But, such cables can then be reconnected, returning the PC to fully operational status with the motherboard-backplane support structure outside the case. The invention thus affords much improved access to the motherboard, etc. for testing purposes without disrupting the PC's operating environment in which test procedures are most desirably performed.
Other features of the invention further enhance its attractiveness to PC manufacturers. For example, floppy and hard drive housings can be interconnected, allowing both floppy and hard drives to be removed as a single sub-assembly for testing purposes. The case is also easily convertible between desktop and tower configurations in a manner which allows location of the user control panel centrally on the front panel in the tower configuration, or at the top of the front panel in the desktop configuration.